Piles of feathers but guineas are fine???

[Sfraker]

[/IMG]In the last week I have found two piles of feathers. Both in the guineas favorite hang outs. Both shaped in a circle.
I dug through the feathers. None were bloody and they were all individual feathers. None were stuck together. The pics are from after I dug through them.

What is going on? All four guineas seem fine. I believe they are 6 months old. Two girls and two boys. I have never seen them squabble with each other.

I did loose one guinea recently to a predator. However thise feathers were obviously torn out and one pile had chewed bones in it.

 

[chasiekitten12]

This must have been a giant molt.

 

[DeckDuck]

When one of my Silkie hens survived a hawk attack, a big clump of feathers from her back was cleanly pulled out and left in a pile on the ground. I think what happened is that the hawk tried to grab her by her back, but got only a talon-full of feathers instead and pulled them right out. It left them in a big pile where she was attacked and they were all neatly lined up just as they had been on the bird, with no blood or skin or anything on the ends. The hen came out from under a deck a few hours later with a bare back but no injuries. Could it be possible that your guineas are surviving attacks from something?

 

[Sfraker]

We do have hawks and other predators around. None of the guineas have noticeable bare patches. The two areas were sheltered so I don't think it was an ariel attack.

 

[yinzerchick]

I've seen piles like this with my chickens. Always gives me a heart attack. Perhaps it's happening during mating?

 

[kaestark]

they are probably molting! tese birds molt like all birds. especially when they are young. they are probably growing their new feathers in and getting rid of their old baby feathers. i have 10 4 month old ones amd i find these all the time. its also from where they clean themselves if they find feathers that are broken or something they sometimes break their own feathers so new ones can grow

 

[kaestark]

it also could be matig! alot of my standard breed chickens pull feathers from the neck and back like that